Nobel Prize university lecturer dislikes 'ignorant' students

Sir Andre Geim finds his students 'ignorant' before they get their PhD[GETTY]

Sir Andre Geim, who works at Manchester University, said it took two or three years of a PhD to make him interested in his young charges.

He tells Desert Island Discs: “I don’t like students very much. They come absolutely ignorant and they are not grown up yet as interesting people.

“But sometime over two or three years of their PhD they grow exponentially fast, pick up experiences and then they become real persons and after that we become not like a professor and a student we become like colleagues and we do research as colleagues and that is a really enjoyable experience.”

To try and bring the brightest minds to compete in the future world and the future of the country is where the brains are

Sir Andre Geim

Russian-born Professor Geim, 55, honoured for his work on the conductor graphene and known for once magnetically levitating a frog, believes students should be exempt from new immigration laws.

He said: “As a nation we have to be pragmatic rather than populistic, we should draw on the resources outside this country. To try and bring the brightest minds to compete in the future world and the future of the country is where the brains are. So if you tap into foreign talent it is very appropriate.”